Planning by Scale: The Role of Perceived Scale in Determining Residential Satisfaction

Abstract

This article suggests that the domination of the scale of the neighborhood in planning distorts our understanding of urban phenomena and that a multiscalar approach is required. It examines the association of perceived scales with residential satisfaction. The findings suggest that the neighborhood is not the dominant scale with which people perceive and define their residential area, rather they consider smaller than the neighborhood scales. Moreover, we found that the perceived scale is a significant predictor of residential satisfaction. We conclude that scale matters for understanding urban issues, and become even more significant in a time of crisis such as the coronavirus epidemic, and that urban planning should consider and be informed by smaller than the neighborhood scales.